Blood of my Aneki
by Pyro Dragon 117
Summary: (AU and OOC) Unknown to all, Itachi had a twin sister who was cast away by her father as a baby. When Itachi gets sent on a mission, he meets her and they bond. But the bond that comes brings terrible things down on them both...REPOSTED AND RECONTINUED
1. The Twin

Disclaimer: I am not Masashi Kishimoto. I am, however, a goddess

Title: Strings of Fate

Pairings: ItaSasu, NaruHina, KakaIru, LeeSaku, KibaShino, ShikaIno,

Warnings: Yaoi, murder, psychopaths and lots of pretty blood…

"blah" is speech

_blah _is thoughts

--blah-- is memories

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-Konoha Hospital, 17 years prior to present timeline in the manga/anime-

It was a supposed to be happy day for the Uchiha clan. A woman had just given birth to twins. Twins were very popular with the Uchiha. It usually meant that they'd have two powerful ninja to train. Two people that could easily carry one the Uchiha name with honor, respect and pride.

This, however was not the case in this birth.

Uchiha Itachi (Sasuke's mother, has the same name as Itachi the older brother) lay on the hospital bed, tired and worried. She had just finished her labor and had given birth to twins. One of them had been a healthy baby boy, with large black eyes that had stared up at her with a curios expression. The other was a girl. But the girl had not been healthy. She was very sickly, and the doctors had to start tending to her right away, or she would not live. She was not premature, but that was what she looked like. She was unusually small and very feeble. Itachi bit her lip. If the clan found out that she had given birth to a runt, she would be in deep trouble. You were expected to give birth to fine, healthy babies in the Uchiha clan, not runts, especially when the twin came out just fine.

Itachi looked out the window. If worst came to worst, she would have to kill the baby. She didn't want to do that to her own child. She'd much rather face the shame of being banished from the clan and having her daughter given up for adoption than see it die. But she was also worried about what her husband would say. He was a proud man, and to hear that one of his children had been a runt would make him furious. Itachi shuddered. You didn't want to see her husband mad. Fortunately, he was away on a mission now, so it would give her time to think.

"Uchiha-san," a voice said from the doorway.

Itachi looked up to see a nurse coming in.

"Yes?"

"I've come to tell you that your daughter has been stabilized for now, but the doctors aren't sure if she'll make it," the nurse said softly.

Itachi felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't want her child to die! She'd give her own life, if only it could live!

"Thank you," she said to the nurse. "I appreciate your help."

The nurse nodded and left.

Itachi began to cry softly, partly from sadness, partly from fear and partly from sheer frustration. She had shamed the Uchiha clan by giving birth to a runt. She closed her eyes. She was tired and sad. She wanted to sleep, very much so.

Thoughts of how to avoid her currant situation ran through her mind as she drifted into slumber.

----------

"You gave birth to a runt! A runt! If this gets out I'll be the laughing stock of the Uchiha clan! I ought to kill you right here! You're a disgrace to the clan and to yourself! I can't believe I ever married such a woman! What was I thinking?"

Tears streamed down Itachi's streaks as the harsh words of her husband sank in. He had just come back from the mission and the first thing he had done was come visit Itachi in the hospital. Upon hearing from one of the doctors that one of the twins his wife had bore was a runt, he flew into a storm of rage. He had gone up to Itachi's room and started yelling his ass off at her, telling her she was a shame to the name Uchiha and that she deserved to die.

"Darling, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-" she began but he cut her off.

"I don't give a damn if you didn't mean it, that fact that you gave birth to a runt still remains and that's all that matters!" he yelled. Itachi winced at the anger in her husband's voice. She had known he would be mad, but she had never expected this.

"As soon as the girl is let out of the hospital, I'm going to take a knife to her throat and kill her," the angry man in front of Itachi said. She gasped.

"No! Please, give the child a chance! She made it through the labor; she's getting better! The doctors say she might be able to lead a normal life! Who cares if she's not a ninja, she can-"

SLAP!

Itachi's eyes widened as she lifted her hand to her cheek. Her husband was staring at her with such hatred in his eyes she wished she would just drop dead right now.

"What do you mean, who cares if she's a ninja?" he spat through clenched teeth. "I care, the clan cares, everyone cares! She's an Uchiha and she cannot live up to our standards!"

"I don't care, you're not killing her!"

"SHUT UP WOMAN!" Itachi's husband roared. She shrank back in fear.

"Please…" she whispered.

Her husband paid no attention to her. Instead he said, "When she gets out of the hospital, you will bring her to me, and I will kill her. If you try to protect her, I'll kill you too." And then he left.

Itachi sunk down into the bed, shaking. What could she do? If she tried to protect her child, they would both be killed. But she couldn't just hand her little girl over like that!

_I need a plan. Something that will hopefully make it so we both can live,_ she thought. Itachi closed her eyes and began to think of a way to save both her child and herself.

----------

-A forest at the edge of Konoha's borders-

One week had passed since the fight with her husband, and Itachi had only been able to think of one plan that might be able to let both her and her daughter live. She had asked her husband if it would be alright if she killed her own child, since she wanted it to be painless and she didn't trust him to do that. He had said yes, so Itachi had taken a knife and basket with her daughter in it down to the river. Of course, Itachi had no intention of killing her child. She was going to put it in a basket and let it float down the river into another country where it would hopefully be picked up by someone.

Itachi walked along side the river, trying to find a good place to set the basket in; a place where the current wouldn't tip the basket over. She was crying silently, tears streaming down her face like the rain.

As she saw a spot in the river that looked safe, she knelt down on the bank and looked down into the basket. Her daughter slept peacefully, unaware that she would never see her mother again. Itachi gave a little sob and began singing,

"_Mori no fukura ga_

_iimashita_

_watashi wa mori no_

_mihari yaku_

_kowai okami, kitsune_

_nado_

_kosasenai kara ne ne _

_shina_

_gorosuke ho ho_

_gorosuke ho (1)"_

Then Itachi kissed her little girl on her forehead, and set the basket in the water. She watched as it drifted down the river, and she felt the wetness of the tears on her cheeks increase. She stayed there crying silently, until the basket was out of sight. Then she turned to the skies.

"Oh Lord, keep her safe. Please, keep her," Itachi whispered. She began walking back to the Uchiha part of the village.

----------

The father of the twins looked at the dead baby in his wife's arms with satisfaction. No one in the clan knew about the disgrace his wife had given birth too, and now it would remain that way. He had already told the hospital to erase all records of the girl twin, and now the child was dead. It was perfect.

"Well, Itachi, I never thought you would have had the courage to kill your own child. But you've proved my wrong," he said. Itachi did not say anything, just kept staring down at the little child in her arms. She prayed to God that her husband would not see through the genjutsu she had cast upon the poor raccoon she had killed so she would have a body to bring back to her husband.

"I did not wish to bring you shame in front of the clan," she answered him quietly. Her husband smiled cruelly.

"That's very considerate of you. Because you killed the child yourself, I'll give you a full pardon for your awful blunder. Consider yourself lucky, Itachi," he said. Then he turned and left the room.

Itachi's lips were quivering. If she had known that this would happen to her first born children, then she would not have ever married her husband. Her eyes drifted heaven-ward as if to say, "What did I do to deserve this?"

The Uchiha woman sighed. _I should burn the body_, she thought. _The genjutsu will were off soon and I can't have him know that this isn't my child_. Itachi took the raccoon outside to a small hole in the ground, surrounded by rocks. It was where some of the Uchiha children held slumber parties with a campfire. She carefully set the raccoon in the pit, performed a set of hand seals, and lit the raccoon body on fire. She watched as it burned, not able to take her eyes off what might have been her child.

The raccoon body was almost entirely burned when Itachi realized that she hadn't given her daughter a name. She thought for a moment. Then she looked yet again to the heavens.

"Her name is Akako," she said. Then she got up and went back into the house.

----------

Somewhere along the river, a little girl in a basket awoke. Her black eyes shining with the moonlight, she opened her mouth.

"A…ka…ko…"

----------

Perhaps it was her husband's pride and selfishness that did it, but Itachi's life was never the same. After that day, she might as well have been cursed. Her life never really held good fortune, no matter how much it was covered by what seemed a blessing.

Her first son, Itachi, became a prodigy, graduating from the academy at age seven, mastering the Sharingan at age eight, becoming a chuunin at age nine, and an Anbu captain at age thirteen. Her other son, Sasuke, also showed promise, and was a very nice little boy that idolized his brother in every aspect of his being.

But even a prodigy can be lead astray. Itachi never had a real connection with his family. The binds that held them to together were lose and weak. And Itachi (the son) severed those bonds with one clean cut of a sword the night he killed all of the Uchiha clan except for Sasuke at age thirteen.

But as she lay there dying, Itachi couldn't be mad at her eldest son. He has always acted like he was missing part of him. And Itachi knew what it was. And she knew that she had brought it upon herself this miserable fortune the day she let Akako drift down the river.

----------

In a small dark room in Tokyo, Japan, a black-haired girl eyes turned red. She was holding a sword given to her as a gift. In front of her lay her terrible step-father. She did not why she had killed him, but the sudden impulse had been so overwhelming, so powerful, she had just taken the sword and killed him.

She looked out the window and her eyes narrowed. From that moment on, Uchiha Akako knew she would never be the same girl again.

Funny, how she killed her family on the exact same night and time as Itachi killed his. But then again, family bonds often hold strings hidden deep within that connect you.

Especially the bonds of twins.

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(1) A lullaby that my mom used to sing to me. It's about an owl, but the English translations are weird, so I'm keeping it Japanese

Pyro: Oi… This is the fourth repost of this chapter I've done… I keep missing stuff with grammar and spelling… Bah… (Kicks the chair) Stupid grammar and spelling…


	2. First Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. However, I claim full ownership to Akako

Title: Blood of My Aneki

Parings: ItaSasu, NaruHina, KakaIru, LeeSaku, KibaShino, ShikaIno

Warning: Yaoi, murder, psychopaths, blood, the usual

Author's Note: Kisame will be appearing stupid and an idiot in this fic, simply because I don't like him and think his personality is somewhat blunt

**----------**

-On a plane going to Tokyo, Japan-

Uchiha Itachi had never been one to make mistakes. He was a prodigy, someone who knew exactly what he was doing. He never messed up. He had no regrets about his decisions.

Except for this one.

When he had joined the Akatsuki, they had said he'd be going on various assassination missions, stealing powerful/forbidden scrolls and getting the Kyuubi.

They had never said anything about getting on a public plane with the other members and flying to Tokyo, Japan.

"Sir, please sit down!"

"No! Not until I get my chum!"

"Sir, you're disturbing the people around you!"

"Like I give a fuck about the people I'm sitting around!"

Itachi groaned and slumped in his seat. He had known that Kisame might cause some trouble on the plane, but he had never expected this. His partner had received lunch and started yelling at the top of his lungs when it wasn't what he wanted. Itachi swore under his breath as Kisame called the flight attendant a bitch. Did the shark man really expect them to have chum on an airplane?

"I'm not calming down until I get my chum!" Kisame yelled.

"Sir, what exactly is chum anyway?"

"Shark bait. Puréed raw fish."

_Deep breath Itachi, deep breaths. Don't kill him; it's his nature to act stupid…_

"Sir, why in the world would you want to have chum for your lunch?!"

"Because it tastes good!"

_Deep breaths…_

"Itachi-kun? Are you alright? You sound like you're hyperventilating."

Itachi stopped taking deep breaths and glared at the man sitting beside him.

"Don't call me Itachi-kun," he growled. "I hate it when people call me that. You know that, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru smirked. "What, can't I call an old friend by formal term?" he asked.

"The formal term is san, and no, you can't. Why are you even here helping with this stupid mission anyway? You left the organization," Itachi said.

"Well, when Bairai-sama asked me too come back and help with this mission, I couldn't say no, now could I?"

Itachi scowled. "You always hated Bairai-sama. Why would you listen to him now?" he asked bitterly. He too hated Bairai, one of the Akatsuki bosses, so talking about him made Itachi sour.

"Well, it was such a wonderful offer, it'd have been a shame to decline," Orochimaru said simply, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

Itachi snorted.

"Well, alright so he gave me $5,000,000 yen as payment."

"But of course, you aren't getting paid for doing the mission, just for coming."

"Actually I'm getting paid for both."

Itachi growled menacingly. It figured that Orochimaru would be getting paid double. The snake bastard had always found ways to get more money than the rest of them on missions.

A smirk tugged at Orochimaru's lips as he watched the Uchiha grow more miserable by the minute. He vaguely wondered if there was any way to make Itachi's flight even more horrible without looking like he was trying to make it that way.

"Sir, please put down that knife! You'll hurt someone!"

"That's the idea, you idiotic whore!"

Orochimaru winced. Alright, so maybe he could sympathize a little with Itachi. After all, Kisame was the older Uchiha's partner, and therefore somewhat his responsibility.

Itachi sunk even further into his chair as Kisame and the flight attendant continued to fight. He glanced heaven ward. _What in hell's name did I do to deserve this?!?_ He mentally yelled. _Apart from kill my clan, become a missing-nin, mentally torture Sasuke, and otherwise become the ultimate villain… Never mind._

"Sir, are you TRYING to hurt someone be waving that knife around?!"

"Yes, as a matter a fact, I am!"

"WHAT?!"

Itachi finally gave into his distress and let his head fall with a loud "whump!" onto his tray.

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-Tokyo Airport, Customs-

"Sir, why are you carrying all of these knives with you?! Are you a terrorist?!"

"Of sorts, yes."

Itachi's day had not improved since he had stepped off the plane. In fact, if anything, it had gotten worse. It turned out that Kisame had been carrying all his weapons with him on the plane, even though he had been told not to bring any. All weapons would be provided for the Akatsuki, and any special weapons, such as Kisame's samehade, would be specially transported. Although how Kisame got past the first airport's security, Itachi would never know, but it hadn't gotten past this airport and now mayhem was starting.

"Hey! Quit waving that around, ya freak!" yelled some tourist to Kisame, who happened to be swinging a kunai. Kisame glared at him before charging.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" he screamed.

Itachi buried his face in his hands. _I don't care what they pay me; I'm NOT going to work with him on this mission, no matter how important it is!!!!!_

Itachi wasn't the only Akatsuki member who was thinking something along these lines. The other seven had various twitching body parts; some eyes, some fingers, some feet, as thought they just wanted to go over and kill Kisame.

"Well, it took you long enough to get here. Didn't we tell you to catch the midnight flight?" a sharp voice said behind Itachi.

The members of the Akatsuki (minus Kisame) turned to look at their head boss, Bairai. He was wearing a crisp back suit and tie, making him look like a normal business man rather than the head of a criminal organization.

"The midnight flight was too late. We wouldn't have a lot of energy to fight off someone that might find out what we're up too," Kabuto said. "Speaking of which; you never did tell us what this mission was about."

"I'll tell you at the hotel. Where's Kisame?" asked Bairai

"At customs," said Itachi.

"Well, someone go… get…," Bairai started. He was, however, meet with eight of the deadliest glares ever known to the face of the planet . He froze momentarily from fear, and then recomposed himself.

"Why won't you go get him? We need everyone for this mission!" he said firmly, despite the fact that he just wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from these eight powerful ninja's.

"Because the idiot didn't listen when you said not to pack weapons. He's been stopped because he was carrying his stuff with him," Itachi said flatly. "Double our pay for this mission, and then maybe we'll consider going to get him."

Bairai's eyes narrowed. What did he have to do to get that idiotic shark to understand him?! Pound him on the head with a hammer?!

"Whatever. We'll get him later. Everyone else, come with me." Bairai motioned toward the way to the exit. "We've got a car waiting outside."

The eight members followed him, trying their very best to ignore Kisame's screaming at security that he'd drown them all with a jutsu if they didn't leave him alone.

----------

-Akasaka Prince Hotel, Tokyo, Japan-

Perhaps it the fact that Itachi was so used to the forest, or maybe it was because he didn't like the color, or even that he just KNEW that Bairai was trying to show off the fact that he had mass amounts of money at his disposal. Whatever the reason, Itachi stared at his room in disgust. It was white (Itachi HATED white), with a blue carpet and a gray couch in one corner. A white table sat in front of the couch, and to the left of it a white desk with a navy blue swivel chair. In between the two sat a white end table with a lamp resting upon it. The actual bedroom didn't make the Uchiha any happier. It was a classic futon bad with white sheets and two white end tables at either side. Two lamps were above the end tables with bowl shaped glass shades.

"Well, do you like it?"

Itachi turned to stare at Bairai with a look of pure loathing on his face. Bairai knew that the members hated any kind of very public hotel because it was very hard to conceal your identity with so many people about. And being criminals, that was exactly what they needed to do.

"It'll do," Itachi said, purposely letting his voice drop a few notches to show that he actually didn't like it. He saw Bairai flinch slightly and suppressed a smirk with difficulty.

"Well, that's good. You'll be staying here for the whole mission. You'll find out exactly what you're doing tonight at dinner. Room 3535, 35th floor. It's a private room, so we don't need to worry about being over heard," Bairai stated in a typical business like fashion that was trying to make Itachi intimidated by saying that he knew exactly what was going on and the Uchiha didn't. Itachi was not impressed. He glared at Bairai, a signal to stop acting like an idiot, or someone was going to get a broken jaw. Bairai caught the glare, and dropped his facade.

"You can pick up your weapons in a little shop near the outskirts of town. It called "Weapons and Ammo." It's rum by a short black haired man with a scar running down the left side of his face. His name's Izzy-"

"Izzy?" Itachi repeated.

"He's half Japanese, half American. Anyway, to get to his shop you just have to walk straight down the street, take a left at the third stop light, a right at the second stop sign, and then another right at the convenient store. It should be at the end of the street."

"What do I do if someone's in there?" Itachi asked.

"There won't be. Izzy's not that well known. The only reason I found out about him was from an associate of mine here in Tokyo. He's really a sucker for money, so he'll take any deal he can get. Don't worry about him. And another thing, in this city, none of you are wanted criminals, so try and keep it that way." Bairai paused, as if to see if Itachi had any questions. When the Sharingan user remained silent, he said, "Well, that's all for now. Good day, Uchiha-san." Bairai turned and left the room.

Itachi looked outside the window. It was raining. He opened his bag and pulled out a pair of black jeans, black long sleeve shirt and socks. He also got a pair of sneakers and navy blue windbreaker, seeing as he didn't have a rain coat. He quickly changed into these items, and then went out, stopping only for a minute when Orochimaru told him to were those clothes more often. They made him look hot. The Sennin went back to his room with two black eyes and a severe nose bleed.

----------

-Outside Weapons and Ammo shop-

Itachi could see why Izzy wasn't well known. His shop was dingy and small, with a small array of guns in the window. It sure as hell wasn't the fanciest shop Itachi had seen, but this was where his weapons resided, so he went inside.

The inside if the shop was actually quite a surprise. It was clean, with a variety of different weapons on the walls and in the glass counter upon which the cash register rested. There were Katana's in one corner, and medieval swords next to them. Various guns that needed something close to an FBI licenses hung on some shelves on the east wall. Bo staffs, comas, nunchucks and an assortment of other weapons Itachi had never seen before were all over the place. In the glass counter there were kunai, shuriken, senbon, daggers, hand guns and a few fancy Katana's made to look like that of a shogun. It was actually quite a good shop.

"Can I help you, sir?" a squeaky voice said to the left of Itachi.

The Uchiha looked over to see a man of Izzy's description standing with a Sig Sauer in his hands.

"I'm here to pick up some weapons that were supposed to be delivered early this morning," Itachi replied. Izzy smiled.

"Ah, you must be one of Bairai's boys. Just a second." He shuffled off, going through a door which obviously led to a back room. He returned a few minutes later with an armful of weapons. He laid them out on the counter. "Now, which one's are yours?" the weapons dealer asked.

Itachi picked out his shuriken holster, katana, and two daggers.

"Those are some really well made weapons," Izzy commented. "They're made with strong metals. You're lucky to have such fine weapons. Where did you get them?"

Itachi blinked. "Um, at a store in a town that's not well known. Konoha, ever heard of it?" he asked.

Izzy shook his head.

"Hey, Izzy, are my weap-" a voice in the doorway said.

Itachi spun on his heel. He hadn't even noticed that this person had entered, and when he saw them he got an even bigger shock.

Standing in the doorway was an almost mirror image of himself. It was a girl, with the same raven black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck. She had pale skin and stood at 5' 8". Her face was looked exactly like his, right down to the two lines on her face. The only difference was that her eyes were ebony black. But still, that had been Itachi's original eye color before the Sharingan permanently remained there. She was even wearing virtually the same outfit, except it was a short sleeve shirt and baggy cargo pants.

After a few moments, Itachi realized he was staring. He turned away quickly, not wanting to look rude. There was something very familiar about this girl, something he couldn't place. It was as though he had meet her briefly and simply put her to the back of his mind.

The girl was just kind of standing in the doorway, unsure of whether or not to speak. Finally she said, "Am I interrupting something?"

Itachi's head shot back to her. Even the timber of her voice was similar, except that it was more feminine and a few notches higher in pitch. It was silent for another few seconds, before Izzy said, "No, of course not, Akako-san. Actually I was just finishing up with this young man."

Akako… The name didn't ring any bells. But still Itachi could not shake the feeling that he had meet this girl somewhere before. But that was stupid, he had never meet anyone by the name of Akako, and sure as hell hadn't ever met anyone that looked so like himself…

"Sir? Did you hear me?"

Itachi spun to look at Izzy. "No, I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" he said.

"I said your weapons are ready to go," the small shopkeeper said. He handed Itachi a long narrow package and a shorter, more rectangular one. Itachi took them silently, racking his brain, trying to find something that might identify the familiar feeling that kept pulsing in the air. But none came. He vaguely heard Izzy say that Bairai had already paid for shipping, so there was no fee. Itachi just nodded. Then he turned towards the door, walking at the girl, who stepped aside to let him through.

As he passed her, he got a good sense of her chakra. He almost dropped the packages at what feed back he got. Her chakra was similar to his, as was her scent. Itachi wordlessly left the store, still wondering, _Who is that girl? And why do a feel as though I know her?_

He began walking back to the hotel, question upon question racking his brain; something that had not happened in a VERY long time.

----------

-Izzy's Shop-

Akako had not thought anyone would be at Izzy's shop that day. It was raining, and most people didn't go out. Of course it helped that Izzy wasn't widely known among people, but that was half the reason Akako chose Izzy. He was a small timer, and that meant that her weapons were probably safer in his hands than a big gamer who would want to keep them all to themselves.

She walked up to the counter and was about to talk when Izzy cut her off.

"No need to ask, Akako-san. I have your things ready," he said with a smile. He went off to the back room.

Akako took the chance to look at some of the shuriken in the glass case. Izzy always had quality weapons, not like those big organizations that cared only that people bought their weapons and not that the product probably wouldn't last two seconds in use. That was another reason she chose Izzy to take care of her stuff. He made sure it was properly taken care of. And then there was the fact that Izzy actually cared about the weapons. He was very gentle with them, and never in the five years that Akako had known him had Izzy ever damaged a weapon. In fact, whatever cracks or dents might be found, he fixed free of charge. Akako grinned. Honestly, she didn't know why Izzy didn't go to L.A. to become a props specialist. He'd make good money with his knowledge of this stuff.

"Here you go Akako-san," Izzy said as he laid her things on the counter. It was a long narrow package, wrapped in black cloth. Akako carefully unrolled the cloth to reveal a katana. It had a black sheath, with a silver end and three red silk cloths tied near the top in an interesting pattern. She pulled the sword out of its sheath.

The sword was three feet long, the steel that made its blade shining like silver, which was what the kashira and tsuba were made of (1). The handle cloth was red, and the tsuba was a circling dragon that's feet and head connected it to the sword. Akako smiled.

"Perfect. You did a great job, Izzy," she said. She placed the sword back in its sheath, rolled it back up in the black cloth and then pointed at the senbon in the counter. "Can I get ten of those? I gave some to the students at the Martial Arts school and so I'm running low."

Izzy nodded and pulled ten senbon out of the case, placing them in a box and then on the counter. He rung the price up on the register. "That'll be 3,800 yen."

Akako handed him the money and left.

As she walked back toward her apartment, her thought's drifted back to the young man in the shop. He had looked so much like her, and she had gotten such a strong sense of familiarity bombarding her senses she almost collapsed. She had always been prone to picking up emotions or feelings like that, but could never explain why until a few years ago when…

Akako stopped and looked at the sky. It was a dreary day. She didn't feel like bothering her head with thoughts that would make her sad. She continued walking, decided to but a C.D on the way home. Linkin Park had a new one that she wanted.

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(1) Kashira is the metal ant the end of the handle, and tsuba is the circular part the separates the blade from the handle

Pyro: My hands hurt…

Itachi: This is only seven pages! How can your hands hurt?!

Pyro: I was typing for three hours straight…

Itachi: --UUUUUUU Idiot…

Pyro: And my back hurts from slouching too much…

Itachi: So sit up straight

Akako: You never sit up straight

Itachi: Shut up


	3. Sickness and Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Akasaka Prince Hotel (It's a real place). I do, however, claim full ownership to Akako

Title: Blood of my Aneki

Pairings: ItaSasu, NaruHina, KakaIru, LeeSaku, KibaShino, ShikaIno

Warnings: Yaoi, murder, blood, violence, psychopaths, etc.

----------

-Akasaka Prince Hotel, Itachi's room-

Itachi glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It read 5:43 p.m. Dinner was at 6:15. Good, he still had enough time to take a shower.

The Uchiha stepped into the bathroom, turned on the hot water and stripping off his clothes. Stepping under the warm jet that soothed his muscles after that horrible plane ride, Itachi just stood there for a minute, letting his thoughts wander from thing to thing.

As he grabbed the shampoo from a rack, his mind decided to be annoying and it brought up the subject of the girl in the shop again. What was her name again…? Oh, yes; Akako.

Itachi squirted some of the shampoo into his hand began to lather it into his hair. He could still feel that dull sense of connection and familiarity to the young girl pulsing through his veins. Yet he was sure he had never met her before. Of course, there was the possibility that he had simply forgotten about her, but Itachi doubted it. He was never one to completely forget something. He could even remember what he had for breakfast two weeks back.

He tipped his head back and let the water rinse out the shampoo. It felt good, having the water and lather run down his back. He tried to think of something else, like what the mission was about, or why Orochimaru constantly hit on him when the snake bastard KNEW Itachi wasn't going to react, except for perhaps with violence.

But his mind refused to let go of Akako. He found himself wondering more about her, like why she went into Izzy's shop. She sure as hell didn't look like any kind of fighter, but looks could be very deceiving. Then again, there were a lot of weapons that didn't look all that harmful, like the Bo staff (1). Maybe she was some kind of martial artist that did performance work at competitions. Yes, that seemed reasonable.

But the question that plagued his mind most was why she had looked so much like him. It had been a mirror image of himself in that store, apart from the breasts and black eyes. And if Itachi had wanted too, he could have easily made his eyes black again. He just chose not since he could maintain the Sharingan without any chakra usage and it usually scared the frickin' shit out of people.

Itachi lathered his body up with soap before rinsing himself off. Turning off the shower, he opened the curtain and grabbed a towel. He began drying himself, when something occurred to him.

_I had my Sharingan activated when I went into that store. But neither Izzy nor Akako acted like I was any different. They didn't flinch or gasp…_

Itachi securely wrapped the towel around his waist before moving out into the bedroom to get some clothes on. As he pulled on a black dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up casually, he pondered this question over and over again. True, people in this society didn't know what the hell an Uchiha was, but that shouldn't make a difference as to the fact that Itachi's eyes were scary, and neither person had so much as given him a cocked eyebrow or surprised look.

Itachi pulled on the same pair of black jeans he had worn to the store. He glanced at the clock. 6:10 p.m. Itachi sighed. _Why do my showers always take 20 minutes?!_

Itachi grabbed his keycard and left the room.

----------

-Room 3535, 35th floor of the Akasaka Prince Hotel-

Dinner had not been a pleasant affair. It would have been, had some idiot not had the radio on. About half way through dinner, a special report came on that a man who looked like a shark had killed and eaten a police officer, and was now being help in an iron cage typically used for caging Zoo animals.

"What does that idiot think he's doing?!" Bairai yelled after the reporter had finished talking. "He'll get us all caught if he doesn't stop!"

"It's a bit late for that, Bairai-sama," said a member from stone country. "He's already eaten someone. They won't let him go after that for sure, not even if someone comes to claim him, which I doubt anyone will."

Bairai glared at Itachi, "Wasn't he your partner, Itachi? You should have stopped him from doing all this!"

Itachi shot Bairai a death glare that made even Orochimaru shiver.

"I will take no responsibility in Kisame's actions, seeing as you never said that we were going to have partners for this mission. True, if we had been assigned together, I would have triple checked him to make sure that he was doing everything according to instructions, but I was not his partner. Even so, I can't watch him every minute," the Uchiha said icily. Bairai suppressed a shiver.

"Fine," he said. "Now, onto what your mission is. As you know, our goal is to release the Kyuubi from the seal that holds it. We have, however, been unsuccessful in doing this." He paused to shot a glance at Itachi, who shot him a glare that said 'Stop looking at me for everything or I'll kill you'. Bairai quickly averted his gaze and continued, "However, research has shown that there are people out there who might have information on the Kyuubi and what its weak points are. We may be able to use this information to our advantage in trying to obtain the Kyuubi's power. We are also looking for possible recruits to teach the ways of the shinobi so that we can have people at the ready for a possible attack on Leaf. The new recruits will also give us new weapon knowledge, so we'll have an edge." He paused to see if anyone had any objections. "No questions? Good. You'll each be assigned two different people to watch: One for the Kyuubi and one for a recruit. If you find any good information, you are to bring it to me immediately. If the recruit shows no potential, abandon then and come to me. I will give you a new recruit. If anyone kills or harms anyone, they will be kicked out of the Akatsuki and transported back to the Shinobi countries. Am I understood?"

All eight members nodded.

"Excellent," Bairai said. He then pulled out a brief case. Upon opening it, everyone saw that it was filled with information cards on people. They were either labeled recruit or information. "These are your choice of targets. I will assign you the people you are to watch. If you have a problem with your person, figure it out yourself."

Bairai went around and gave each person two cards. Itachi looked at his. The info one was an old woman whose family had a back round history of dealing with the small demons and having much information on larger ones. The second was a top notch martial artist that had won several world titles. Itachi suppressed a snort. These people looked worthless.

"You are all dismissed. I bid you good night."

----------

-Outside a Tokyo Civic center, where a Martial Arts Competition is being held-

Itachi looked up at the building in front of him. Honestly, did these people have to make EVEYTHING big? It got rather annoying at times, being constantly surrounded be giants.

He walked inside the building, paying to get a ticket and proceeding to the seating area. His recruit was competing here today, which was perfect. Itachi would be able to see if the boy had any skills right away.

Itachi sat down in an empty seat near the floor. The competition had just started, and it was the lower belt ranks that were competing, so not many people had come yet. Itachi supposed that he would have to wait a while before the black belts performed, but he needed a good seat. It gave him a better analysis of his subject.

Itachi watched the competition for two hours. He was very disappointed. No one had yet had shown any great talent so far. Of course, the black belts were stating now. Maybe now he could get some entertainment.

"Will the next person please enter the ring?" a judge asked.

A girl with long brown hair and eyes stepped into the ring. She walked up before the judges, and upon reaching them, bowed. Then she took a stance and said, "Judges! Representing Marugo Martial Arts School! My name is Abe Wazuka! My form is quest! Judges! (2)" She bowed again, and back stepped to the middle of the ring.

Itachi watched with boredom as she performed. Her form wasn't very good. It would do absolutely nothing in a spot of trouble. Itachi was annoyed. Would his person step into the ring already?

For one hour, Itachi watched as one pathetic person after another performed. _They all suck! Why the friggin' hell do they even bother?!_ He thought.

At long last, only two people remained. One of them had to be his person. Sure enough, the boy walked out onto the floor and repeated the introduction ritual that everyone before him had. His name was Togo Kenko. He was doing weapons. Kamas 3, to be exact.

Itachi did see that Kenko was slightly better than the others. He had a crisper from that would help him more in a tight area than the other peoples. But he still held no great potential to be a good shinobi.

Kenko finished and got the highest score of his division so far. There was still one person left, though. Most people were murmuring that Kenko would win for sure.

The judges motioned for the next person to step into the ring, which they did. Itachi's eyes widened ever so slightly.

It was Akako. She was wearing a typical Martial arts uniform with the gi coat 4 and pants, but it was a red coat with black trimming and black pants. She held Kamas in her hand. Well, that explained why she was at Izzy's, at least. Itachi had seen the same Kamas on the wall in his shop.

Akako stepped up to the judges and repeated the introduction ritual. But instead of being loud like everyone else, she was rather quiet. Then she stepped into the ring.

"With your permission, may I begin?" she asked.

A judge nodded. Akako took a stance, and began.

Itachi had thought that everyone here was a worthless loser that wouldn't last two minutes in the Shinobi countries. He had been wrong. Akako would last. For a VERY long time.

Her form was crisp and sharp; with sharp movements that flowed so perfectly with each other that you couldn't distinguish what was what. It was like a dance, so smooth and flowing. But her movements with the Kamas… They weren't moves to defend. They were moves to kill. Sharp and quick, with one stroke, meant to slice your body.

Itachi performed a hand seal for a genjutsu that let him see something from his mind with his eyes. No one else could see it, but to him, several shinobi entered the ring in the path of Akako's Kamas. And she slew each of them, perfectly. Real Shinobi would have almost no time to react.

When she finished, Itachi let the genjutsu drop. He was, in the least, dumbfounded. Akako was… incredible. She was talented, much more than anyone else in this damned building. Itachi looked at her scores as she received them. 10.0, all of them. He saw her smile in satisfaction. She bowed, and left the ring.

Itachi followed her with his eyes. She left the floor room, heading for what Itachi assumed were locker/changing rooms of some kind. He got up, and followed her.

----------

-Changing Rooms-

Akako smiled to herself as she changed back into her regular street clothes. _Another first place. Honestly, no one will ever present a challenge against me, so why do I even bother going to these competitions. I did stop but…_Akako frowned as she pulled on her jacket. True, she hadn't been to a competition in almost a year, because she never found a challenge. Yet she had signed up for this one. Why, she didn't know. She had just walked into the building and said, "Sign me up".

Akako grabbed her backpack. Oh well. She never did anything without good reason. She was sure that coming here would give her some benefit, even though she couldn't see it yet. She left the changing rooms.

----------

-Outside the Changing rooms-

Itachi watched Akako come out of the changing rooms. She was in street clothes again, black jeans, and a black shirt that bore the legend "Linkin Park" on it. It had a picture of the band members. A black jacket that was left unzipped rested upon her shoulders, as did a backpack.

Itachi followed her as she left the building. From the looks of it, he would have to say she was going downtown somewhere. She didn't grab a taxi or bus, which Itachi was thankful for. He wasn't sure if he had the money to follow her.

They walked for a good half hour, Akako leading a relatively easy path to follow. She stopped once to grab some dango from a bakery, but other than that she just kept walking until they reached an apartment complex.

It wasn't huge, but it was still a decent size. The building was white with a nice looking front courtyard. Itachi swore. He wouldn't be able to follow Akako into the building.

Itachi blinked. Wait a sec, why was he following her anyway. True, she had done very well, at the competition, but Itachi had no reason to follow her. Then he felt it again. That dull pulsing in his veins, that familiar feeling, that bonded feeling that he had felt in the store. It had totally consumed his body. And as he looked back at Akako, who was about to reach the front doors of the apartment complex, he saw her stop. She just stood there, as though she had just been paralyzed. And then, slowly she turned to look at Itachi.

Their eyes meet, and then a rushing feeling came to Itachi's head and images flashed before it, images he didn't know, had never seen before. They blinded him, filling his head with pain. He was vaguely aware that he had dropped to his knees…

The images. A little baby girl, in the incubator. She looked so sickly, so deathly, and so helpless. Itachi reached out a hand to touch her. Someone help her! She needs help, can't you see?!

"Hey! Hey, are you ok?!"

Itachi's eyes snapped open. He had not known they had shut. She was on his knees, one hand clutching his forehead, the other his stomach. He vomited, feeling very ill. He looked up to see that there was a girl kneeling next to him. It was Akako. She had one hand one his shoulder, the other looked as though she were going to reach out and shake him.

Itachi groaned and doubled over as he vomited again. He didn't feel good at all. His eyes closed again, and he began to feel light headed and dizzy. And the images came again, a sickly little baby, struggling to breathe, not doing very well. Why doesn't someone help her? She needs to be saved! There, a doctor! Yes, save her, she has so much to live for…

At a river, near Konoha, a woman with a cloak and basket was crying. The baby was in the basket asleep, the other was singing a lullaby. No, don't leave her! Don't, you'll regret it! The woman put the basket in the water. No! You've sealed your fate! Don't!

Itachi opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed, covered by a thick comforter. The room was blood red, with two thick black strips running along the top and bottom boarder. A thinner strip surrounded the window.

It was an interesting room. The wood of the bed, end table, bookshelf and desk were all a dark wood. Ebony, if Itachi was correct. There were a lot of books and tokens on the book shelf. Some were pictures; others were statues of some kind. They varied from glass to stone. There was a computer on the desk, as well as a printer and scanner. All looked very up–to-date. There was a radio/C.D/ clock on the end table, which stood next to the bed. The bed was covered in black and red sheets, all with either a dragon or fire on them.

"Hey, you're awake," a voice said from the doorway.

Itachi looked and saw Akako standing there, a look of concern etched on her face. She was carrying a tray with some food on it; probably soup of some kind.

Itachi sat up. Akako put the food tray down on the desk. She looked at him for a second, before asking, "Are you ok?"

Itachi was about to answer, when he felt a burning in his throat, and he vomited again. But he had vomited in a bowl. He blinked. _When did that get there? _He wondered. He looked to his right and saw Akako standing there, her hand holding the bowl. She looked worried.

Itachi just gave her look of thanks. She took the bowl away and set it on the desk. Then she brought the tray of food over.

"Here, try and eat something, um…" she said.

"Itachi," the Uchiha replied. "Thank you." He picked up the spoon and brought the soup, rice porridge (A/N: It's Thai, and it's like their version of chicken noodle) to his mouth and was about to eat when he felt his throat tightening again. He shut his mouth, dropped the spoon and motioned toward the bowl on the desk.

He was surprised when Akako grabbed the bowl and brought it back so swiftly. Although, maybe that had something to do with the fact that he had to repeat himself 20 times when ever he was with Kisame before the idiot finally got something. He vomited again.

"Or maybe it's best if you don't eat," Akako said as she took the bowl away. She reached behind the end table and pulled the plug on the clock and moved to the floor. Then she set the food tray on the end table. "You can eat it when you feel ok. I'll heat it up for you," she said.

"Itachi just nodded. He didn't want to open his mouth, afraid that he might vomit again. He flopped back down on the bed as Akako left to go wash out the food bowl. Why was so sick all of the sudden? Did someone slip something into his food last night?

Akako came back and set the bowl next to the bed. "You should get some sleep. I'll be on the computer if you need me," she told him.

"Thank you," Itachi said, just barley audible. Then he closed his eyes. He hadn't used the words thank you with meaning for a long time. What caused him to let his cold demeanor drop around Akako. Not only here but at the competition and Izzy's shop as well.

It didn't matter right now, though. Itachi slept and for the first time in years he felt secure and safe, and felt that in Akako's presence, nothing could go wrong.

The bond of the twins, after growing so weak after so many years, strengthened that night.

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(1) A long stick often used as a weapon

(2) How you're supposed to start at a competition

(3) Looks like miniature scythe, one that you could hold in your hand

(4) A traditional martial arts coat


End file.
